In 1962 Irmgard was invited to discuss her use of Labanotation in physical therapy at a large notation conference in New York City.  Instead she pulled a “bait and switch.”

Rather than extolling structural notation, Irmgard described the value of the Effort/Shape assessment she had learned from Lamb.  This notation “reveals the mental and emotional processes of the human being,” providing her with insight into the psychological ramifications of distorted physical movement.  She used client case studies to demonstate how these insights enhanced her rehabilitative practices.… Read More

In the mid-1950s, after a decade in physical therapy practice, Irmgard resumed her movement analysis studies in Europe.  By this time, Laban himself had immigrated to England, where he had also moved into new areas of study – notably movement in education and industry.

Irmgard discovered that the pedagogical approaches Laban pioneered in Germany in the 1920s had been systematically incorporated into an expressive and socially-oriented movement education curriculum for British school children.

To understand the industrial application relating movement and motivation, Irmgard studied with Laban’s protégé, Warren Lamb.… Read More

The Flow of bodily effort unfolds in space, and the space we live in has only three dimensions.  This three-dimensionality posed a problem for Laban as he looked for relationships between the four motion factors and their intrinsic spatial tendencies.

Laban found affinities between the three motion factors of Weight, Space, and Time and the Vertical, Horizontal, and Sagittal dimensions respectively.  Then he ran out of places for Flow in the outer space surrounding the body.

Flow may not be naturally affined to the space outside the body, but rather to the psychological inner world in which our thoughts and feelings fluctuate continuously. … Read More

Laban’s inclusion of Flow as one of the four key elements of movement dynamics was influenced by Henri Bergson’s notion of flux.  According to this popular French philosopher, reality is a constant, dynamic flow of change, unlike the static and discrete objects we perceive.

Laban’s work reflects his conceptual debt to Bergson.  While objects seem to stand still, Laban writes, “this illusion of a standstill is based on the snapshot-like perception of the mind,” analogous to cutting a film into pieces. … Read More

Laban characterized movement dynamics as “the Flow of Weight in Time and Space.”  The three latter factors – Weight, Time, and Space – have always seemed commonsensical elements of motion that can be easily explained to a layman.  But Flow, as a perceivable movement element, can be harder to get across.

Laban’s own delineation of Flow seems clear enough.  He describes Flow as the variation between actions that are difficult to stop (free Flow) and motions that can be stopped and held without difficulty (bound Flow).… Read More

This year my work has focused the dynamics of human movement, or what Rudolf Laban called “effort.”

In July, at the Ohio State University, I presented a paper on effort notation at the International Council of Kinetography Laban, followed by a workshop on organic patterns of effort change at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute conference.

In August, through MoveScape Center, I ran a course on “Incomplete Effforts” (the six effort states).  “The Transformation Drives” workshop exploring the Passion, Spell, and Vision Drives came later in November.… Read More

In the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving in November, feasting with friends and family.

While the day is often focused on material blessings, I would like to acknowledge other blessings from my life in movement.

First, I am grateful that Rudolf Laban studied visual art before he became involved in dance. If this seems strange, let me explain.

Laban had the rudiments of a late nineteenth century academic art education, which drew on centuries of theory and practice, as well as the study of classic and renaissance masterpieces. … Read More

Laban had a fertile imagination.  To enrich his parsimonious effort theory, he envisioned characters to represent different proportions of indulging and contending qualities among effort combinations.  He illustrates this with the combinations of the Action Drive.

For example, Laban associates Floating (all indulging qualities) with the soft loving movements of a goddess or angel, while Punching characterizes the violent and hateful movements of a demon.

Laban goes on to write:  “The characterization of a mere mortal will be more difficult, because imagination credits gods, goddesses, and demons with plain and uncomplicated effort habits whereas those of mortals are seen to be much more intricate.”… Read More